A complete stranger and flowers from her ex
by La Dormeuse
Summary: Lily is alone on valentine's day and is peeved with her ex. Or is he even her ex? Did they even actually break up? And who's the tall guy in the shadows? LJ One shot.


A/N: just a ficlet for Valentine's Day. I had to! I know its very late but I started it then and now it's complete. My other fic will soon be updated. Please review!

Lily had watched many couples come into the café. She had seen them on their first date, and on their last. She felt no bitterness towards them, they were different. But today was different; it was Valentine's Day or Fete de Saint Valentin. She worked in a wizarding café in the Swiss Alps; her house, which resembled a chalet, was a ten-minute walking distance through the snow.

If she owed him something, it was that he chose a beautiful place for her; she fell in love with it. Everything about the alpine setting was amazing. It was a week before she was to leave Hogwarts and she had been called to Dumbledore's office. He told her that she was in danger from Voldemort gaining power and she was to be put into hiding, no questions, and no goodbyes. She was taken through the fire to her house; she could still remember the smell of pine hitting her. She could barely remember meeting Marie or Alexandré who were the middle aged couple that the property had been bought off. They had taken her under their wing and gotten her a job at the café they had owned, which she was standing in now.

Waitressing there wasn't very hard as it was never full, but it was never empty. There were two other waitresses, one Austrian – Kate and the other Swiss – Anna. They were both a bit older than her and they too had guided her through the various things they did. She got to know the regulars in the first two weeks; they could smell a lost soul like themselves. Most afternoons it ended up being a big discussion with everyone having an opinion on whatever was in the Prophet. Whether it was the war, the quidditch, or the Swiss minister who was apparently being leaned on by corrupt rich purebloods to allow them to do as they wished.

They had become her family, but she snuck across to France and then the ferry to Dover to visit her parents' graves once a month. From what she could tell, she was the only visitor; after Voldemort murdered them, Petunia had turned her back on Lily and even had to be persuaded to come to the funeral. On the way back she would occasionally pick up an English Prophet or Witch Weekly where he occasionally graced the cover, but there weren't any interviews or whom he was dating, Sirius was the one who spoke more out of the two 'famous Aurors' to the press. Maybe he hadn't dated anyone? Come to think of it they hadn't actually broken up. She had just left, she knew Dumbledore had explained to her close friends the truth and to the rest of the school that she had left for a family emergency; so he definitely knew.

In fact she had found the paper, she had come across a copy in Marie and Alexandré's house. For someone to be put into hiding, three people would have to sign a document to agree they were in enough danger and to give their consent. Her parents were already dead at that point, so she was curious to see who had signed it; the first two names were no shock: George Potter and Eleanor Potter. His parents were very kind to her when they had met at Kings Cross two or three times, but the third signature knocked her for six – James Potter.

It had been august when she discovered this, two months after leaving Hogwarts and her wounds were still raw, but as soon as she read the name, she knew she wanted to kill him. Maybe not literally, but she felt betrayed by him. She had time, plenty of it to mull over it and as she did she understood why. She knew what he was like, he would shield her from every dark cloud in the sky if he could, and she didn't want that. She would have rather stayed by his side, but she knew it was selfish of her. But he was selfish too, protecting himself against her being hurt. She remembered Dumbledore saying:

"He feels too much." And he was right, James was a git for the first few years she knew him, but when one of his own was hurt he felt the pain too. He shared the rejection, the confusion and the sadness. But he couldn't do it alone; she knew he couldn't handle his own pain – if she was hurt.

Today was in fact their one-year anniversary. He had asked her out one year ago exactly and since they hadn't actually broken up, it was technically their anniversary. She smiled to herself as she told Kate for the final time she was fine with closing up. Both Kate and Anna had dates this evening and didn't want to leave her on her own. But she would rather sit in her own memories than impose on their dates or have to talk to someone and subconsciously compare them to him.

The café gradually emptied at half past eight, it served all three meals and many of the villagers went to eat there, but tonight many had gone to the restaurants in the village, as it was more romantic. She disagreed, if you lit a few candles here and there, put tables further apart, nice tablecloths and dimmer lighting, you'd have the perfect recipe for romance. Nonetheless she was alone in the café and she dimmed the lights, conjured some lit candles, and played some quiet music just for atmosphere she told herself. She knew full well that she wasn't going to be swept off her feet at this moment. She slipped off her shoes and skidded gently across the floor to get cloths and her mop out. She started to wipe down the tables as a female warbled in the background about a broken heart. Rolling her eyes she moved the prophet to a chair and then noticed it wasn't in French, it was in English. It was today's English prophet and had hearts around the edge.

She smiled and flicked through it going over various news, until she reached the centre fold, which was bright pink. She saw Alice Longbottom at the top, for suggesting the idea that people could send valentine messages in and they would be published. The first one stated:

Ally love, you always have great ideas, love F. Lily smirked; they obviously hadn't changed since Hogwarts. Alice Brown and Frank Longbottom had been very loved up since sixth year and she wasn't surprised he hadn't proposed. The next one read:

F, told you this would work, ally. Lily scanned the rest and recognised a few names here and there, there were a few proclaiming the sexiness of Sirius or James but none from the men themselves. The last one was strange; the words formed the shape of a heart so she had to turn the paper round to read it fully:

TL, happy 1st anniversary, J. And in the middle of the heart was a small snitch with its wings flapping. She sighed, it fitted her perfectly but it probably wasn't her. He knew she was in Switzerland, so what would be the point of putting it in the English prophet.

She left it open and ignored the cloth. She would clean the muggle way to waste time so she didn't spend the entire night bored out of her head. But now she didn't want to stay too long, she wanted to leave. So she waved her wand and the tables were clean and charmed the mop to work itself. She sat on the barstool and summoned the teapot which was still warm, then summoning her mug 'Je suis une Princesse' written around it. She poured the warm liquid and poured in a sachet of sugar and then a small pot of milk. She started to stir it until she heard a knock on the door.

She got up and holding her wand behind her back she saw someone standing outside and then saw behind her it was starting to snow gently, which she had got used to as it was a daily occurrence in winter. She slowly undid the two magical locks and opened the door slightly. The hooded figure sent a chill through her and it reminded her of the one time she had seen a dementor.

« Oui? » She asked.

« Excusez-moi mademoiselle, pouvez m'aider? » (Excuse me, can you help me) A male voice came from under the hood.

« Oui. » She responded, he stared at her and sighed,

« Pouvez parler anglais ? » (Can you speak English?)

« Oui, I mean yes. »

"Oh good," the man hesitated, "Are you a Miss Evans?" Lily was taken aback, and nodded slowly, watching in slow motion as he pulled out a bouquet of Yellow roses.

"These are for you," he held them out for her to take but she merely stared at them and then her courtesy kicked in.

"Would you like to come in?" she asked, and took the roses gently, paying attention more to him than what she was holding. He seemed to stare at her for a few seconds before nodding and watched her, as she turned around and walked towards the counter and he quickly followed. He took off his hood and revealed brown hair, a heart-shaped face and grey eyes. She didn't really pay attention to it any more.

She gestured for him to sit down and asked,

"Would you like a cup of tea?" he nodded. _Great,_ she thought, _really talkative._ She put the flowers down and silently poured tea into another cup she had conjured. "Milk, sugar?" he shook his head and his eyes roved round the café until they reached the newspaper lying on the paper.

"Is that the Prophet?" she nodded and watched him hesitate, "It's the English one." He grinned at her and she smiled. He brought the cup to his lips and closed his eyes as the warm liquid entered him; she noticed him shiver and remembered her dinner.

"Have you travelled far?" She asked, watching his movements but she was startled when he met her gaze and nodded,

"From London."

"Who are the flowers from?"

"He preferred not to be named, but said that you would know." His words made her smile and she asked,

"Well isn't he the cocky git," she saw a smile appear on his features and then disappear, "I hope he doesn't get you to do all his chores?" he grinned at this comment,

"No, I think he mentioned something about dismemberment if he came himself." She laughed gently,

"I suppose he would, well if you've come from London you should have something to eat. We have plenty in the kitchen?" he smiled at her gesture and answered,

"He didn't mention your generosity." She smiled at him and got up,

"Well then it'll have to be more than dismemberment." They both grinned and she walked out to the back and in a few seconds reappeared with two plates of steaming spaghetti with tomato sauce drizzled over them.

A feeling of sadness washed over her as she pushed the plate across to him. Here she was in a Swiss café, a romantic atmosphere, with a complete stranger and flowers from her ex. She summoned cutlery and watched him tuck in gratefully into his food after thanking her aloud. She smiled, watching him eat as fast as possible, her cutlery still in hand. Only then did her sense of smell kick in. It passed straight over the steaming food to his aftershave. It gave her a good kick up the backside or so she thought. Her smile widened and reached her eyes, then her sarcasm decided to join the party. _Time for revenge?_ It asked her and once again because of James Potter, her entire brain shut down.

It took him a good while to notice that she was staring at him, he coughed gently and she blinked, still smiling dazedly. He gave her a querying look and watched her inhale deeply,

"Could I ask you a question?" she asked quietly, he nodded, watching her smile grow,

"Would you give him a message for me?" he nodded and watched her step off the barstool, place the cutlery in her hand on the bar and then leaning in towards him. She was shocked herself at what she was doing and so was he, nevertheless she was getting her revenge as she kissed him gently almost resting against him and then pulling back just as his lips stared to move against hers. She stepped back and was about to sit back but an arm pulled her back towards him and he kissed her this time. She smiled against his lips and pulled away gently, murmuring quietly,

"I don't think he'll be happy about you doing that," watching the annoyed look on his face.

"How? When?" he looked baffled. She blushed,

"Your aftershave. The one thing you didn't change." She still wouldn't look at him as she picked up her empty mug and walking towards the sink. It was only when she heard him talk did she stop,

"I'm sorry." She didn't turn round, but she asked,

"What for?"

"You know." His voice growing quieter. She turned round, and blinked as she saw him change back to normal. His hair, black and messy, chocolate brown eyes and glasses and his accented features.

"No, I don't." Her eyes narrowed and summoned a piece of parchment, "What else have you done that I don't know about?" And she waved the piece of parchment that signed for her being sent to Switzerland.

He got up and walked over to her, set down the mug in one hand and the parchment on the bar looking down straight into her eyes.

"You were on his list."

"Who's?"

"Voldemort's. I knew I couldn't say anything, and I didn't want you to go. But my parents and Dumbledore practically forced me to. If I could go back and change it, I would."

"What do want me to say, or do? Jump straight back into your arms and say everything will be okay?" She asked glaring at him, "Do you know how much I wanted to hurt you when I found the parchment? I understand why you did it, but…" he could see she was faltering and with that he kissed her. His arms slid round her and she shivered from the warmth he provided. She pulled back still within his arms and staring into his eyes she murmured, almost annoyed,

"I missed you." He smiled, resting his forehead against hers,

"I missed you too," he paused wondering what her reaction would be to his next statement, "Lily?"

She looked up, "What?" he grinned,

"Will you be my valentine?"

A/N: Happy belated Valentine's day!


End file.
